Macadamia named &#34;Hidden Valley A4&#34;

ABSTRACT

A new variety of Macadamia hybrid Integrifolia×tetraphylla has been identified that is particularly characterized by its high number of serrations per unit length on its leaf edge and a ratio of 1:1 between 3-leaf and 4-leaf whorls.

The present invention is directed to a new and distinct variety ofMacadamia tree believed to be a cross of Macadamiaintegrifolia×tetraphylla which was identified in a cultivated area.

Among the distinct characteristics of this tree is a combination of anincrease in leaf serrations per unit distance and a ratio of 1:1 between3-leaf and 4-leaf whorls as sampled over a sample of a minimum 100specimens.

Asexual reproduction of the new variety has been accomplished bygrafting scion stock taken from the original seedling plant onto bothseedling and mature rootstock of various other Macadamia varieties. Thevariety has maintained character regardless of rootstock, and exhibitiedthe following characteristics and distinctions true to form throughsucceeding propagations.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a typical tree specimen of the new variety, named "HiddenValley A4".

FIG. 2 shows typical nut clusters of the new variety.

FIG. 3 shows a comparison of the leaves of the new variety with those ofthe known variety `HAES 246`.

FIG. 4 shows a comparison of the kernel and nut of the new variety withthe kernal and nut of the known variety `HAES 246`.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the kernel and nut of the new variety.

The variety results from a seedling derived from the open pollination ofa female parent of the variety Renown, itself a hybrid of M.integrifolia×M. tetraphylla. The seedling may have arisen fromself-pollination or from cross-pollination with the nearest possiblepollinators being of the varieties Own Choice, Keauhou, Kakea and N.R.G.Based on morphological comparison, the most likely pollen parent is OwnChoice. The cultivar has been successfully and successively grafted ontoa variety of rootstock yielding trees of consistent character and havinggood yield characteristics, while maintaining kernel quality andbeneficial growth characteristics. The cultivar was discovered andpropagated at Hidden Valley Plantations, Beerwah, Queensland, Australia.

The following is a detailed description of the new variety, with colorterminology determined in accordance with The Royal HorticulturalSociety (R.H.S.) Colour Chart number. The characteristics and morphologylisted below represents mean measurements from a minimum of one hundredspecimens from trees grown in Beerwah, Queensland, Australia.

Tree: The tree is semi-erect in habit (more than Keauhou but less thanNutty Glen), moderately branched with a canopy of medium density (moredense than Hidden Valley A16 but less dense than Keauhou or Own Choice).The branches are more drooping than Keauhou. Leaves are found with boththree and four leaves per node in a 1:1 ratio throughout the tree,unlike Keauhou and Kau which have predominantly three leaves per nodeand Renown which has predominantly four leaves per node. The graftedstock is strongly vigorous with shoots of medium thickness (thinner thanOwn Choice but thicker than Hidden Valley A16) with a mean of 42 mmbetween nodes, which sparse pubescence and weak anthocyanin coloration(R.H.S. color 152A) on new flushes. The tree has a relatively shortjuvenile phase (shorter than Keauhou or Kau) and a higher tolerance toCercospora husk spot than observed for Own Choice.

Leaves: The leaves are narrow elliptical with a mean 3.69 times longerthan wide, broader than Nutty Glen or Renown but narrower than Keauhouor Kau with an acutely pointed tip similar to Renown. The leaves areserrate with a mean 1.36 spines per cm which is characteristic and morethan any known variety. Serrations are more shallow than Nutty Glen andspines are shorter than Renown. Leaves are only weakly undulated andweakly rolled compared with Keauhou. The young leaves are pale green(R.H.S. 137B) and mature leaves are dark green (R.H.S. 139A) and dullsurfaced (similar to Nutty Glen) with distinctly lighter margins (R.H.S.10A).

Mean leaf length.--144.54 mm with standard deviation (s.d.) of 22.6.

Mean leaf width.--39.23 mm with s.d. of 5.84.

Mean petiole length.--8.3 mm with s.d. of 1.48.

Flower: The racemes are cream colored, larger than Keauhou or Kau, andvery dense on the tree. The tree has a shorter flowering period thanKeauhou, which starts earlier and finishes later, but a longer floweringperiod than Hidden Valley A16. The tree has a tendency to have a secondlate flowering in seasons with favorable rainfall.

Fruit: The husk is of medium thickness (similar to Keauhou, thinner thanRenown) with a medium hilum end point (smaller than Renown and largerthan Kau) and a mildly shouldered pedicel (less than Own Choice). Huskdehiscence is partly on the tree (less than Nutty Glen and Renown) butmainly on the ground. There is an average of 1.7 nuts per raceme. Thereis no pre-germination on the tree observed (as in Nutty Glen) and verylow incidence of fruit remaining on the tree or double embryo fruit ascompared with Own Choice.

Mean fruit length.--50.05 mm with s.d. 2.82 (with pedicel and hilum).

Mean fruit width.--33.76 mm with s.d. 1.76.

Nut: The nuts are oval, 1.04 times longer than wider, less oval and moreeven than Renown but less round than Keauhou. The shell is light brown(R.H.S. 164A) with a smooth surface (smoother than Nutty Glen or Renownbut more coarse than Kau) and a moderate sheen (more than Nutty Glen butless than Keauhou). The shell is thinner at the micropyle end (thinnerthan Kau but thicker than Nutty Glen). The suture is about the samecolor as the shell while the micropyle is barely visible. No twin markis evident. There is moderate (less than Renown or Nutty Glen) paleflecking (R.H.S. 165C) in radial streaks from the micropyle end.

Mean nut diameter.--26.27 mm (Range 22-30 mm) with s.d. 1.38.

Mean nut weight.--7.5 gm.

Kernel: The kernel is ovoid, creamy white with very little upper/lowercolor difference and a mean weight of 3.5 gm. The kernel averages about45% of the weight of the nut at 1.5% moisture content. All kernels havean oil accumulation about above 72% (100% first grade floatersrecorded).

Yield: Recorded nut yields to date have been estimated to be higher perunit area than for Keauhou or Own Choice. This is based on recordingyield per tree divided by tree silhouette area.

The following Table 1 compares many of these features of Hidden ValleyA4 (HVA4) with the other varieties Hidden Valley A16 (HVA16), Keauhou,Kau, Own Choice, Nutty Glen, and Renown.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        Character  HV A4       Keauhou    Kau                                         ______________________________________                                        TREE                                                                          Growth     semi-       spreading  erect                                       habit      erect                                                              Canopy     medium      medium     high                                        density    low                                                                Lower      drooping    level      strongly                                    branch                            rising                                      attitude                                                                      Vigour,    v-strong    medium     med-weak                                    grafts                                                                        Shoot      medium      medium     med-thin                                    thickness                                                                     Anthocyanin                                                                              weak        absent     absent                                      colouration                                                                              RHS 152A                                                           Juvenile   v-short     medium     long                                        phase                                                                         LEAF                                                                          No. per    3,4 (50%)   3          3                                           axis                                                                          Shape      Narrow      Obovate    Obovate                                                Ellipti-                                                                      cal                                                                Tip        acute       obtuse     obtuse                                                 pointed     rounded    pointed                                     Length/    3.69        3.25       3.42                                        breadth                                                                       length (mm)                                                                              144.54      138.82     125.09                                      Petiole    8.28        10.43      9.24                                        length (mm)                                                                   Marg:      1.36        0.12       0.17                                        Spines/cm                                                                     Mid portion                                                                              weak        med-strong med-weak                                    Undulation                                                                    Rolling    mid-weak    med-weak   med-weak                                    Mature     dark        dark       dark                                        colour     green       green      green                                       RHS Chart  139A        139A       139A                                        No.                                                                           Immature   green       green      green                                       colour                                                                        RHS Chart  137B        137A-B     141A                                        No.                                                                           Margin     paler       paler      similar                                     colour                                                                        Leaf sheen medium      med-high   med-high                                    Vein colour                                                                              153 B       152D       152C                                                   or C                                                               FLOWERING AND FRUIT                                                           Flowering  med-late    medium     v-early                                     time                                                                          Duration   short       medium     long                                        Nuts/raceme                                                                              1.7         1.5 (est)  2.5 (est)                                   Raceme     very        dense      medium                                      density    dense                                                              on tree                                                                       Raceme     long        short      short-med                                   length                                                                        Husk color 137A-B      137A       137B                                        Husk thick-                                                                              3.7 mm      3 mm       2.7 mm                                      ness                                                                          % nut      14.1%       11.7%      10.6%                                       diameter                                                                      Hilum      medium      medium     small                                       endpoint                                                                      Pedicel    weak        absent                                                 shoulder                                                                      Dehiscence off-tree    off-tree 1 off-tree                                    (1-5)      1                      1                                           Splitting  both 3      off-tree 5 off-tree                                    (1-5)                             5                                           NUTS                                                                          Nut Shape  oval        round      round                                       length/    1.04        0.98       0.99                                        breadth                                                                       Nut        26.27       25.55      25.00                                       diameter (mm)                                                                 Range (mm) 22-30       21-30      22-28                                       Std        1.38        1.46       1.37                                        deviation (mm)                                                                Kernel     3.6-3.8     2.3-2.7    2.2-2.5                                     weight (gm)                                                                   % of Nut   43-47       34-38      32-34                                       Shell      smooth      mild-rough smooth                                      texture                                                                       Shell      medium      dull       dull                                        sheen                                                                         Shell      moderate    slight     moderate                                    flecking                                                                      Micropyle  v-slight    obvious    v-slight                                    Shell      164A        165B       165B                                        colour                                                                        (dried)                                                                       Suture     same        same       lighter                                     colour                                                                        ______________________________________                                        Character  Own Choice  Nutty Glen Renown                                      ______________________________________                                        TREE                                                                          Growth     spreading   semi-erect semi-                                       habit                             erect                                       Canopy     high        low        medium                                      density                                                                       Lower      drooping    rising     drooping                                    branch                                                                        attitude                                                                      Vigour,    strong                 strong                                      grafts                                                                        Shoot      thin        med-thin   medium                                      thickness                                                                     Anthocyanin                                                                              weak                   medium                                      colouration                       weak                                        Juvenile   med-short                                                          phase                                                                         LEAF                                                                          No. per    3           4          4                                           axis                                                                          Shape      Narrow      Narrow     Broad                                                  Elliptical  Obovate    Lanceolate                                  Tip        obtuse      acute      acute                                                  rounded     either     pointed                                     Length/    2.81        4.53       3.91                                        breadth                                                                       length (mm)                                                                              128.16      153.40     169.93                                      Petiole    8.65        4.77       7.33                                        length (mm)                                                                   Marg:      0.09        0.90       0.78                                        Spines/cm                                                                     Mid portion                                                                              medium      weak       weak                                        Undulation                                                                    Rolling    med strong  weak       med-weak                                    Mature     dark        dark       dark                                        colour     green       green      green                                       RHS Chart  139A                   137A                                        No.                                                                           Immature   green       green      green                                       colour                                                                        RHS Chart  137B                   143A                                        No.                                                                           Margin     paler       paler      paler                                       colour                                                                        Leaf sheen low         medium     low-med                                     Vein colour                                                                              152D                   153D                                        FLOWERING AND FRUIT                                                           Flowering  early       late       med-late                                    time                                                                          Duration                                                                      Nuts/raceme                                                                              2.0 (est)              1.5 (est)                                   Raceme     dense                  med-                                        density                           dense                                       on tree                                                                       Raceme     medium      long       long                                        length                                                                        Husk color 137A                   138A                                        Husk thick-                                                                              3.2 mm      4.3 mm     4.4 mm                                      ness                                                                          % nut      12.1%       15.4%      16.4%                                       diameter                                                                      Hilum      med-small   small      large                                       endpoint                                                                      Pedicel    absent      absent     weak                                        shoulder                                                                      Dehiscence both 2                 on-tree                                     (1-5)                             3                                           Splitting  off tree 4  on-tree 1  on-tree                                     (1-5)                             2                                           NUTS                                                                          Nut Shape  round       round      oval                                        length/    1.04        0.99       1.12                                        breadth                                                                       Nut        25.96       28.04      26.85                                       diameter (mm)                                                                 Range (mm) 21-30       23-34      23-30                                       Std        1.57        2.02       1.45                                        deviation (mm)                                                                Kernel     2.5-2.7     4.0        3.2-3.6                                     weight (gm)                                                                   % of Nut   33-36       46-47      39-41                                       Shell      smooth      rough      rough                                       texture                                                                       Shell      dull        med-shiny  shiny                                       sheen                                                                         Shell      mod-heavy   mod-slight mod-heavy                                   flecking                                                                      Micropyle  v-slight    v-slight   v-slight                                    Shell      165A-B      165A-B     165B                                        colour                                                                        (dried)                                                                       Suture     same        same       lighter                                     colour                                                                        ______________________________________                                    

We claim:
 1. A new and distinct hybrid Macadamiaintegrifolia×tetraphylla named Hidden Valley A4 substantially as shownand described.